Vanadium Battery Manufacturing Facility to be built in Townsville by Vecco Group

The State Government’s push to transform North Queensland into an Australian hub for renewable energy and critical minerals has received another major boost.

Resources Minister Scott Stewart, Member for Mundingburra Les Walker, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Treasurer Cameron Dick and Member for Thuringowa Aaron Harper at Bohle TAFE in Townsville. Picture: Evan Morgan

The state Government’s push to transform North Queensland into an Australian hub for renewable energy and critical minerals has received another major boost.

The Palaszczuk Government announced on Tuesday plans for a $26m commercial-scale vanadium flow battery electrolyte manufacturing facility, Australia’s first.

Vecco Group’s new Townsville Vanadium Battery Manufacturing Facility will produce the electrolyte used in grid-scale vanadium flow batteries – a type of battery leading the energy-storage revolution.

Resources Minister Scott Stewart, Premier and Annastacia Palaszczuk in Townsville. Picture: Evan Morgan

“Large-scale energy storage is a game-changer for renewable energy and this facility will be another game changer for Townsville,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in the North Queensland capital on Tuesday.

“The Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan sets out our plan to create the Queensland SuperGrid and transition to cleaner and more reliable energy system.”

News of the “SuperGrid supercharge” follows major government announcements for the long-anticipated CopperString 2.0 project as well as a $17.2m expansion of TAFE Queensland’s Bohle campus catering to the renewable and advanced manufacturing sectors.

The new battery-manufacturing facility will start production later this year, employing 21 people and produce nine megalitres of electrolyte annually for use in vanadium flow batteries, equating to energy storage capacity of 175MWh annually and growing to 350MWh.

The production facility will support the development of Vecco’s planned Debella Critical Minerals Mine.

It will also lead to downstream manufacturing and create a new link in the supply chain.

One of the largest deposits of vanadium and oil shale in the world is located less than 16km east of the township of Julia Creek. Picture: QEM.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said Townsville would be the first place in the country to manufacture large-scale vanadium batteries.

“The batteries will be Queensland made and they will form part of a new vanadium supply chain, providing enormous possibilities for North Queensland,” he said.

“Vanadium flow batteries provide the grid-scale storage needed so renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, can reliably power Queensland homes, businesses and industries.

Mr Miles said storing and discharging energy on an industrial scale was a major step in decarbonising the electricity network.

Tom Northcott, founder and managing director of Vecco Group, said that thanks to Queensland Government support, the company was building the vanadium industry, “which will bring more jobs and investment to North Queensland”. Picture: Supplied

Vecco Group Managing Director Thomas Northcott said the manufacturing facility would be a key enabler for vanadium flow batteries in the Queensland grid.

“We’ll be able to integrate mining and manufacturing and apply our expertise in critical minerals into the downstream supply chain to assist Queensland to achieve its renewable energy target,” he said.

“Australia’s demand for medium and deep duration storage by 2050 has been estimated at over 180GWh by the market operator, vanadium flow batteries made right here in Townsville from Queensland’s minerals can help meet this need while creating good jobs in regional areas.”

Resources Minister Scott Stewart said there was “enormous potential” for vanadium mining and production in North Queensland as demand for vanadium batteries continued to rise.

“The North West Minerals Province has an abundance of critical minerals like vanadium, which is needed to produce large scale batteries which are a key part of Queensland’s Energy and Jobs Plan,” the Townsville MP said.

“There are huge opportunities to continue creating good jobs in both our resources industry and renewable energy sector through developing critical minerals projects.”

The project is part of the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan, which includes creating a North Queensland battery industry supply chain.

Originally published as Vanadium Battery Manufacturing Facility to be built in Townsville by Vecco Group